Branquinho

Or....little whitey. How many of us in the states can say that we are a racial minority. Very few of the people I know. In fact, my family could be categorized as "typically white", which in the absence of proper stereotypes equates to tall, reserved, Nordic people that have no idea how to dance.

In anthropology, we tend to de-emphasize notions of color, recognizing that we are 99.9% similar in our genetic material, and that our behavior and customs are best described in terms of the ideological web (i.e. culture) that we weave around ourselves. Race, as a whole, is considered a false and misleading construct, often used to justify and perpetuate social and economic inequity against “inferior” groups.

I for one recognize the issue as complex, and have always enjoyed being a part of the discussion. As an undergraduate, I was the lead researcher for an African American Society, spending a great deal of my weekend’s sleuthing away in the archives of segregated North Kalamazoo. Heading to a meeting of brilliant empowered black professionals, while at the same time getting the "What in the hell are you doing here white boy?" reaction from local residents, what just a typical part of my foot in both worlds existence.

As it stands, I have always been interested in the African Experience, especially in regards to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, (1400-1896) which brought millions of Africans to the shores of the New World. The story is, in my humble opinion, just incredibly sad and gripping. Of the many economic and social horrors it has produced, which most certainly are still felt to this day, I also find it to have generated some of the most creative and inspiring forms of art, such as Bob Marley’s roots, rock, reggae, Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Capoeira. Despite the absence of melanin in my skin, I seem to identify with this side of life, that struggles against all odds and comes out spiritually unbound.

In Salvador, the vestiges of the slave trade, from a country that imported more slaves than all others (roughly 14 million) and kept it legal for longer (1888) are so viscerally felt and heard. I went to a sushi joint by my house the other day, and noticed that despite the fact that Salvador is 80% black, 98% of the clientele were white (that is except for the servers and the folks in my party). Despite the fact that Brazil maintains its status as a mixed society, in terms of economics there has been little progress made.

(Hmm....Salvador. Do I stand out much?)

These are serious issues, with no easy answers. My approach is to understand the gravity of our social complexities, yet to realize that life is often too short to be taken too seriously (i.e. Stuff White People Like). Enjoy people for their differences, embrace your cultural roots and heritage (white, black, or other), and recognize that we are all people on this earth, trying to figure things out and make our own way

Conscious Hip-Hop, pretty much the most amazing thing ever: